A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 hits northeastern Japan says Japan’s Meteorological Agency. The same region devastated by March’s massive quake and tsunami.
The quake struck at 1:34 pm (0434 GMT) off the Pacific coast of Miyagi prefecture, around the same area as the giant March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the United States Geological Survey said.
The quake did not cause fresh damage to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to its operator Tokyo Electric Power.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was "no destructive widespread tsunami threat" although a local tsunami could result from a quake of this size.
The quake was centered 25 miles (40 kilometers) below the sea bed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture — in the same area where more than 22,000 people were killed or went missing after the March 11 quake and tsunami.